Well Goodness, Gracious! I feel like I have a ton of updating to do. Sorry for the YEAR long absence, but things got a bit crazy here in the Anna DiVesta Piano Studio world. Shortly after my last post, the DiVesta clan moved. Only about a mile away, but still a move is a move! A very short while after that, we discovered we were pregnant! So, not only did I have my biggest year yet performing, teaching and working at Ivy Chapel, I was pregnant as well! You can imagine how tiring that must be; however, Charlie was born on January 21st! We are so blessed and thankful and without a doubt, this child has music in his blood! Fortunately, I was still able to be part of so many shows while carrying our second child. I continued working at Shrewsbury Theater putting on both Suessical and Shrek the Musical. I put on a music theater camp in the summer, AND I was able to premier a brand new musical "Asberger's: A High Functioning Musical" at our local Fringe Festival. It was such a hit that it already had an encore performance last August. Then, school was back in session, and I had my largest studio yet. My studio has grown to about 33 students! Can you believe it?? We had our fall studio class and December Recital as usual. Finally, the church performed an AMAZING cantata entitled "Let the Whole World Sing." Along the way this summer, I met up with an extremely talented young percussionist (during Asberger's as a matter of fact). Seeing that I myself had so many people helping my musical career along the way, I wanted to encourage him to continue playing in many facets of the music industry as possible. Therefore, he has performed alongside me at Suessical, the Cantata and Palm Sunday. We are so fortunate to have him sharing his musical abilities. The church loves him, and he has several young fans!Following Charlie's birth, I took about a 6 weeks maternity leave. I hated to leave my kids, but I needed the time to heal and be with my new baby and newly larger family. Thankfully, Charlie was healthy, and I had a relatively easy labor. Let me tell ya, it was no picnic, but compared to some of the trials and tribulations that some new moms experience, I considered myself extremely blessed. Now that Holy Week has passed, its on to planning for the summer. Summer is always such an interesting time, and this year is proving to be no different. This year is Ivy Chapel's 50th Anniversary. We have many exciting things planned starting with a special anniversary service, May 18th. I still have to plan all the many special music we have during the summer since the choir is off. Also, we will be planning our anniversary concert which is on September 14th. I am so excited to be able to work with all the musicians from Ivy's 50 years.Unfortunately, I will not be able to continue working at Shrewsbury theater. As much as I love my work there, I have decided to grow my studio to fill Monday nights and be with my family on Sundays. We have so little time together anyway. I truly love performing in the pit orchestra and working with children that I hope to come back someday. It just wasn't a fit for us this year. At this point, I would love to be involved with a summer show. Summer is easier for me to fit rehearsals into my schedule. Much easier than during the school year. Hopefully, I'll find something, and if you hear of something, let me know! So, this year should be a lot less hectic, and honestly, I'm looking forward to it. My wallet.. not so much.. such is the life of a musician! Until Next Time...Keep Smiling!Anna-